(Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued an alert on Thursday warning that unapproved parts might be installed in certain General Electric model CF6 jet engines, telling owners to inspect planes or inventories for the parts.
The FAA says UK-based AOG Technics sold bushings for GE Model CF6 engines without having FAA approval.
Jet engine maker CFM International said on Wednesday thousands of engine components may have been sold with forged paperwork by AOG Technics.
The problem predominantly affects CF56 engines built by CFM, with a smaller pool of parts for CF6 engines also suspected of having counterfeit paperwork. As of Monday, about 96 engines total are suspected to contain parts with forged documentation, CFM said.
Matthew Reeve, a lawyer for CFM and its co-owners General Electric and Safran, said in filings to London's High Court that the joint venture has so far identified two forged FAA forms for "hundreds" of CF6 parts.
The CF6 is used mainly to power cargo planes, including the vast majority of Boeing 767 freighters, as well as the KC-767 tanker operated by Italy and Japan.
If unapproved CF6 bushings are found, the FAA said aircraft owners and operators should remove and quarantine parts.
A GE spokesman said the company supports the FAA's action and is "fully engaged" with the FAA and other aviation regulators investigating claims that AOG Technics sold counterfeit parts.
“We continue to work with our customers to assess the authenticity of documentation for parts that came from AOG Technics," the spokesman said.
AOG Technics did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its main number, which went to voicemail.
Lawyers representing AOG and its director Jose Zamora Yrala said on Wednesday the defendants were "cooperating fully" with an investigation by Britain's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
(Reporting by David Shepardson and Valerie Insinna; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Marguerita Choy)
